Music Review: 'Gentleman's Blues'

On this sprawling 16-song extravaganza, Cracker belatedly redress the glib misanthropy and rockist stodginess that made the group’s three previous efforts a pale shadow of leader David Lowery’s former combo Camper Van Beethoven. Standout tunes like the autobiographically barbed ”Seven Days,” the achingly bittersweet ”Lullabye,” the unself-consciously intimate ”Hold of Myself,” and the bluesily fatalistic title track recall Camper’s wild-card eclecticism and absurdist humanity, making this Lowery’s most compelling work in ages. B+